The NFC East: This division was clearly the worst division in football last year with Washington going from worst to first needing only 7 total wins to make the playoffs. Riverboat Ron was the main reason behind Washington’s success, but this team is still fishing for a good long term quarterback. The NFC East plays the AFC West and the NFC South. The schedules as a whole are ranked around medium, because it is top and bottom heavy with what these NFC East teams will be facing. I have to imagine that this division should improve some but I still have to say that the teams that will be playing against them will be favored more often than not.
1. Washington – Vegas Win total is 8.5
Washington’s Power Rating: -1.5
Schedule – Medium Hard – At large vs Seattle, @ Green Bay and @ Buffalo
Key losses: CB Ronald Darby, LB Kevin Pierre-Lewis, DE Ryan Kerrigan
Key additions: QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, OT Charles Leno, CB William Jackson, WR Curtis Samuel, CB Darryl Roberts
Key draft picks: LB Jamin Davis, OT Samuel Cosmi, CB Benjamin ST. Juste, WR Dyami Brown
Summary: Forget honeymoon year for Riverboat Ron, this team made the playoffs in the worst division in football getting 7 total wins. Now I did say that the Bears were the worst team to make the playoffs last year, and if that’s true, then Washington wasn’t far behind. Washington’s defense was fantastic last year and their offense was putrid to say it kindly. Dwayne Haskins turned out to be a massive bust and Alex Smith, even as the greatest story in the NFL last year, wasn’t the QB that he was before the massive leg injury. I believe that this team has a nice upgrade here with Ryan Fitzpatrick at QB but I also think that their offensive line woes continue unless Samuel Cosmi proves his critics wrong about his blocking techniques. Washington had a great Pythagorean adjusted win total last year at 8.9 compared to their actual adjusted wins of 7.44. They will have a very hard schedule compared to the Eagles and the Cowboys which is somewhat concerning yet they have gained some of my trust. I awarded them for their free agency moves and upgrade at quarterback but that only brings me to 8.2 wins. If I had to pick a team to win this division, it would be this team.
My number: 8.2
Action – lean under
2. New York Giants – Vegas Win total is 7 juiced to the over at -140
NY Giants Power Rating: -2.5
Schedule – Medium Hard – At large vs LA Rams, @ Chicago, @ Miami
Key losses: G Kevin Zietler, DT Dalvin Thomlinson, OT Camron Fleming, LB Kyler Fackrell
Key additions: WR Kenny Golliday, CB Adorree Jackson, TE Kyle Rudolph, RB Devontae Booker, DE Ifeadi Odenigbo, WR John Ross, QB Mike Glennon
Key Draft Picks: WR Kadarius Tony, Edge Azeez Ojulari
Summary: The Giants moved back in the draft to get another first rounder from the Chicago Bears for the 2022 season. Now that won’t help them as much this season but they did make some noise in free agency. I like the Wide Receiver additions this year and I really like the Edge rusher in Azeez Ojulari being drafted in the 2nd round. My issue for this team is the Offensive line. The Giants lost a few guys in the trenches and really didn’t do a lot to replace them. That is concerning to me. Saquon Barkley should be back after that nasty knee injury but my question remains if he will remain healthy, and to be quite honest, I do not like the guys that they have under him. This is the year that Daniel Jones has to put up numbers and he does have the weapons to do so. The Giants lost some close games last year vs some very good teams. If they can stay healthy this year, I think they might be a good sleeper pick to win the division at the +500 that we see advertised.
My Number: 6.76 wins
Action – No Play
3. Dallas Cowboys – Vegas win total 9.5 juiced to the under -140
Dallas Power Rating: -3.75
Schedule: Medium Easy – At large games vs Arizona, @ Minnesota, @ New England
Key losses: LB Sean Lee, CB Chidobe Awuzie, QB Andy Dalton, T Cameron Irving, S Xavier Woods
Key additions: S Keanu Neal, OLB Tarrell Basham, and a bunch of lower grade guys
Whom they drafted: LB Micah Parsons, CB Kelvin Joseph, LB Jabril Cox, DE Osa Odighizuwa, DE Chauncey Gholston
Summary: It certainly did not feel like a honeymoon year last year with coach Mike McCarthy, and part of that reason for that, was that the Cowboys were expected to win the division. Instead, they had one of the worst defenses that they have ever had in Cowboy history enabling them to only 6 total wins last year. I think that the Dak Prescott injury early in the season speaks for itself, but in my honest opinion, I didn’t think that Dak would have been good enough to bring this team in to the playoffs anyways. In saying that, I actually like the Cowboys draft this year. It’s a first time that I could say that in quite some time. If these picks pan out, I expect to see an improved defense at some point in the season. Now the win total here at 9.5 seems to be a very optimistic one and I am not a believer in their coach or their quarterback. Dak is much too inconsistent for me to think that he is worth anywhere near the 160 million dollar contract that he just signed. My season win number is more closer to 8 and will be taking the under.
My Number: 7.61
Action: Under 9.5 wins
4. Philadelphia Eagles – Vegas win total 6.5 juiced to the over -140
Philadelphia Power rating: -3.75
Schedule – Easy – At large games vs San Francisco, @ Detroit and @ NY Jets
Key losses: QB Carson Wentz, S Jaelin Mills, WR Deshawn Jackson, S Johnathan Ford, DT Malik Jackson, DE Vinny Curry, Coach Doug Peterson, OT Jason Peters
Key additions: Coach Nick Sirianni, FS Anthony Harris, QB Joe Flacco, OLB Eric Wilson, DE Ryan Karrigan
Whom they drafted: WR Devonta Smith, G Landon Dickerson, DL Milton Williams, and a bunch of dudes
Summary: It’s hard to believe that this team won the super bowl around 3 years ago. Looking at them now, you wouldn’t be able to recognize many players or even the coaches from that team. We should probably start with Doug Peterson. It’s really hard for me to know how good of a head coach he was. Some people say it was his offensive coordinator Frank Reich who was the true brains behind the Eagles 2017 season and I tend to agree. New coach Nick Sirianni has a lot of work to do and I am not 100% sure that he is ready for this level. Jalen Hurts will be the quarterback of this Eagles team and he will be playing behind an aging offensive line trying to run a system similar to what we saw with the Colts last year. I kinda feel that this Eagles team will be a poor mans Baltimore Ravens. I certainly have my reservations about Jalen Hurts but the kid is a winner and will make some plays this year that might shock you.
My Number: 7.27
Action – no play
